Abu Dhabi Media Company is one of only a few satellite broadcaster available in Europe to offer all, yes all 380, English Premier League football games, all LIVE. And in High Definition.

(Contrary to what some other "installers" are saying ADMC Sports are not the only broadcaster to show all 380 games LIVE, but their signal is the easier to receive in Spain than some of the other packages offering the 380 live matches!)

The FA Premier League is, for the first time, broadcasting ALL games in High Definition, not just those games on Sky and ESPN. This even means that Sky Sports "Game of the day" and "Match Choice" and BBC Match of the day will have access to show these games and highlights also in high definition.

Packages.

Initially, ADMC Sport will be offering their packages with a HD Receiver with a 12 month subscription included / embedded. This is to try and combat card sharing and piracy.

ADMC Sports have also announce that they will also be offering a viewing card / smart card. These will only work in certain Humax HD receivers.

The ADMC Sport subscription included the following channels

HD Sports 1 - 6

Sky News HD

Fox Movies HD

Fox Series HD

National Geographic Abu Dhabi HD

ADMC Sport Reception and Frequencies for the Costa Blanca Spain

Reception of ADMS Sport on the Nilesat / Atlantic Bird satellites on the Costa Blanca Spain requires a satellite dish of at least 1.25m, and even larger depending on your location. This is because the Atlantic Bird satellite at 7 West has a narrow beam designed for Africa only.

However ADMS Sports channels are also available on the Badr / Arabsat satellite located at 26 east. An 80cm dish should be sufficient to receive these signals, with larger 1m satellite dishes in some areas been needed.

Sky has just released the list of 3D football fixtures for this season.

An Ipsos MORI survey has shown that 63% of viewers feel closer to the live action when watching Sky 3D, 67% say they would visit a different bar if it had Sky 3D, while 68% of viewers say they will watch 3D football in future.

Sky Sports will screen The 2010 Ryder Cup live in 3D. The broadcast will be the first event to be shown on Sky 3D, Europe's first residential 3D TV channel, which will launch on October 1, 2010.

The Ryder Cup will form the cornerstone of Sky 3D's launch weekend's schedule, with key holes from The Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor broadcast in 3D.

Sky 3D is now available in more than 1500 pubs and clubs across the UK and Ireland and over a million sports fans have already enjoyed the range of sports broadcast live in 3D since the channel's launch.

The residential launch of Sky 3D will mean that any Sky+HD customer with a 3D Ready TV will be able to enjoy the spectacle of live sport in 3D in the comfort of their living room.

Viewers who have yet to buy a 3D TV, they can still enjoy the action by visiting sky.com/3dpubs to find their nearest Sky 3D pub.

Sky Sports will also show live coverage of The 2010 Ryder Cup in High Definition (HD), and this will be the third Ryder Cup to be shown by Sky Sports in HD.

Speaking about the announcement Sky Sports golf commentator Ewen Murray, said: "Watching golf in 3D gives you the sense that you're standing right beside the golfer as he takes his shot.

"3D highlights every change of elevation on the golf course making it possible for the viewer to get an accurate read of each slope on the fairways and greens."

Sky is set to screen the London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea and the final day of the Ryder Cup at the same time.

Sports fans who have Sky Sports as part of their digital TV packages face a tough decision on October 3rd 2010.

The bundle provider is set to broadcast both the final day of golf's Ryder Cup - in which Europe's best take on the US - and the north London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea.

With a scheduled kick-off time of 16:00 BST, the Premier League clash will get underway during what could be the deciding moments at the Celtic Manor golf course, leaving fans to choose which of the two sporting contests to watch.

Head of the PGA Sandy Jones refused to criticise Sky's decision to screen both major events.

"I don't think our audience will be affected. Sky do a good job for all of us," he was quoted by the Telegraph as saying.

Earlier this week, Sky revealed that the Ryder Cup will be one of the first events to be shown on its forthcoming 3D channel, which launches on October 1st.

Friday, July 30, 2010

An inducstry source has said that ITV was looking at announcing some form of pay-TV deal around high definition versions of ITV2, 3 and 4. It is not clear how this would work, but it is understood that the deal would not involve the standard-definition versions of ITV's digital portfolio or the HD version of the flagship ITV1.

The BBC have announce the first batch of English Championship football matches they will broadcast this coming season, starting with Leeds United's match against Derby County on August 7.

BBC Sport will also air Burnley versus Preston North End on September 11, Doncaster Rovers against Sheffield United on October 23, Cardiff City versus Swansea on November 7 and Norwich against Ipswich Town on November 28.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Sky has confirmed that its new 3D channel will become available to residential subscribers on October 1, after the service launched to pubs and clubs in April.

The Sky 3D channel will be offered at no extra charge to Sky's top-tier customers on the HD pack. It will work on all existing Sky+ HD set top boxes, but users will first have to buy a new 3D-ready TV set.

Sky 3D will be compatible with all 3D TVs produced by Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic as well as supporting both 'active' and 'passive' 3D technology formats.

On the launch weekend, Sky 3D will carry coverage of the Ryder Cup from Celtic Manor as the European team take on the US. The channel will also air 3D versions of animated films Bolt and Monster vs Aliens.

Sky has agreed deals with Disney, Fox, Universal, Warner Brothers, Paramount and DreamWorks to showcase all of the studios' new 3D films.

In the run-up to Christmas, the Sky 3D channel will air a number of movies, including Alice In Wonderland, Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Coraline, Fly Me To The Moon, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince and My Bloody Valentine.

Sky 3D will also broadcast a range of live sport, including selected matches from the new Premier League football season. Entertainment and arts shows in 3D will be "announced closer to the service's launch".

"As with high definition, 3D is set to transform the way TV is enjoyed in homes nationwide," said Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch.

"Following hot on the heels of the success of 3D cinema, Sky customers will now be the first anywhere in Europe to experience 3D TV from the comfort of their living rooms.

"They can look forward to a fantastic mix of live sport, blockbuster movies, and innovative entertainment and arts shows."

Also today, Sky filmed a Bollywood dance routine at St. Pancras Station in 3D as part of a partnership between Sky Arts and the English National Ballet.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Contrary to some other installers who have said that just over a week ago transponder 41, frequency 10714 h, that carries the freesat / free to air FTA version of Channel 4, did experience some problem. Unconfirmed reports suggest it was some form of power drop.

Channel 4 reception on the Costa Blanca Spain was much weaker than normal and on this one day Channel 4 on this frequency was lost in weak reception areas for one day from about 1030am until 8pm.

Where I am based Channel 4 on this frequency was breaking up and almost unwatchable during this time, a time when normally is it fine.

This issue was reported around the southern most fringe areas of Astra 2d reception - ie Mediterreanean areas.

It lasted was only for that short period of time on one day.

It affected only this one Astra 2d transponder, as all other Astra 2d transponders, even the other much weaker 2d horizontals, were fine.

The following day reception was reported as being fine and back to normal.

However, since last Thursday, there have been sporadic reports (not as many reports as before so I am a bit more wary of it this time) of C4 reception again being poorer, although I personally have not seen any changes in reception levels.

I wonder if the "fading" effect, due to humidity, heat and being close to the sea, that has been affecting some TDT reception around coastal areas can also affect satellite transmission... I am sure they can....although we have had hotter days prior to the day the C4 levels dropped...

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Abu Dhabi Media Company said on Sunday that football fans from across the GCC can now subscribe to its coverage of the English Premier League, adding that a website dedicated to would-be customers had gone live.

John Dykes, formerly a presenter with ESPN Star Sports, and Mark Pougatch, who has presented Match of the Day in the UK, were named as two of the faces of ADMC’s live English-language offering – available 24/7 on AD Sports 5 and 6.

Football fans can now subscribe to watch all 380 matches live – available with both English and Arabic commentary.

In addition, AD Sports’ flagship English channel, AD Sports 5, will offer 24/7 coverage of Premier League TV, the official channel of the Premier League.

A second English channel, AD Sports 6, will bring viewers a mix of Barclays Premier League action and coverage of other sports including Formula 1, UFL and tennis, all in HD. Those without HD televisions will be able to watch without any problems.

Viewers have a choice of three ways to subscribe to all the English Premier League action on AD Sports – satellite TV, cable TV or online by logging on to ADMCsport.com.

Last month, ADMC announced that satellite TV viewers will pay up to AED999 for the HD decoder, which comes with a smartcard providing a year’s subscription to the AD Sports channels that will be broadcasting the league.

For users who currently have a compatible Humax HD decoder, smartcards can be bought alone for AED370 for a year’s subscription. They will also continue to get all the current free to air channels.

(Note prices for Spain and outside ADMC main market area may be different.)

Liverpool legend Ian Rush, former England and Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman and France and Chelsea star Marcel Desailly will kick off the Arabic programming on AD Sports channels 3 and 4 in a season preview special, to be aired on August 13, the company added.

AD Sports first Arabic match-day broadcast will see Tottenham Hotspur take on Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City at home. Arabic programming on AD Sports 3 and 4 will also include Inside the Premier League, The Premier League Live, Football Fever and Final Score.

Mohammed Najeeb, director of AD Sports Channels, said: “The line-up of Barclays Premier League programming and the talent that we are bringing to the AD Sports Channels are unlike anything seen before in this region. We are raising the standard for both Arabic and English audiences, and offering more than just games and analysis."

He added: “We are proud to be able to name such a prestigious line-up of talent for our shows. If the football was not enough to keep people watching, then the talent alone certainly will be.”

Saturday, July 24, 2010

As reported on here earlier, Sogecables new Pay TDT channel will be launching on August 23rd 2010.

Canal+ is the TDT terrestrial version of the Canal+ channel available on Sogecables D+ satellite TV in Spain. It is also thought that Canal+Dos will also launch at a later date, and focus on movies and sport, allowing people wo watch premium satellite TV via TDT.

The new channel will replace Latino 40 music channel on August 23rd.

The cost of the channel will be 14.90 Euros per month, and currently comes with two months free programming

Boxes and cards are expected to be on sle from August 14th.

The card can be used in a CAM or receiver which is already used for Gol TV.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Five sold to "Northern and Shell" owned by Richard Desmond for GBP 103.5million
Desmond owns the Express Newspaper group.

UPdated:

RTL Group announced at shortly after 5pm that it had signed an agreement for the sale of Five Group to Desmond's Northern & Shell.

Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of RTL, said: "With a significant recovery of the UK TV advertising market and Five performing well in the first half of 2010, we saw a window of opportunity to realise a transaction based on a fair evaluation of Five. The disposal is in line with RTL Group's strategy of being number one or two in each of our markets.

"I would like to thank the whole team at Five and CEO and chair Dawn Airey for their passion and professionalism, especially in the difficult past 20 months which saw a comprehensive restructuring of the company."

With immediate effect, Five joins Desmond's roster of media assets, including Express Newspapers, the Daily Star, OK! magazine, and Portland TV - home of adult TV channels Television X and Red Hot.

Desmond visited Ofcom last week to assure them that Five's public service obligations to provide news and current affairs programming in primetime would be upheld. Speculation is mounting that Desmond will bolster celebrity-led content - possibly even including a continuation of Big Brother - on the television channel's schedule, using his other media assets to cross-promote Five.

Desmond is expected to face a grilling by MPs on the House of Commons culture committee once the deal has been done. But the deal is unlikely to be blocked by regulators because there are no competition issues. Desmond's combined share of the UK media market will still be relatively small if the purchase goes ahead.

Under the terms of Five's licence, which runs until 2014, it must screen a set amount of news and current affairs each year. Desmond visited Ofcom, the media regulator, last week to reassure them that he will continue to meet those requirements. MP are nevertheless also likely to seek assurances that Desmond does not intend to fill Five's schedule with "tabloid TV" shows.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

ADMC Sport have the rights for all 380 plus English Premiership football matches.

For this you will require a ADMC receiver, that has a 12 month subscription built in.

You may also need to have your satellite dish realigned.

Reception of ADMS Sport on the Nilesat / Atlantic Bird satellites on the Costa Blanca Spain requires a satellite dish of at least 1.25m, and even larger depending on your location. This is because the Atlantic Bird satellite at 7 West has a narrow beam designed for Africa only.

However ADMS Sports channels are also available on the Badr / Arabsat satellite located at 26 east. An 80cm dish should be sufficient to receive these signals.

So those people who wre watching the Showtime system last year wil need their dish and receivers realigned and replaced.

These signal frequencies may change later, as they are still in "test phase".

Also, these channels are in High Definition. The ADMC Sport Humax receiver is a HD receivers. It does not matter if you do not have HD TV technology available to you, as you can still watch HD channels on a SD (Standard definition) TV, although you will not see the quality of the high definition picture.

The music channel MTV will join the TDT in Spain from September and will do free to air with no subscription it has announced. Viacom, owner of MTV, and NET TV has announced having signed an agreement for MTV to be available for free on terrestrial digital television. Until now the Spanish version of MTV could only see through pay TV. The network's programming will be the usual music, comedy shows, news and events.

Digital Terrestrial Television (TDT in Spain) providers will have to change the frequencies before January 1, 2015.

Users will also be required to re-tune and adjust their TV reception systems and probably community TV distribution systems, although not required to install new decoders and antennas.

This was stated by the Deputy Director General of Planning and Spectrum Management, Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Antonio Fernandez Paniagua.

The frequency change will not be done overnight and for a time two transmission frequencies for each channel on TDT in Spain will coexist in order to have time to adapt.

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce will soon make available a calendar of the process, which has to be completed by January 1, 2015, although the intention of the Ministry is to bring forward that date and carry out an information campaign among citizens.

This change will release part of the airwaves for wireless broadband is to "break the digital divide so that access to high speed internet also reach those in isolated rural areas", explained the Industry Ministry official

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The English Premier League Football is available on ADMC Sport - Abu Dhabi Media Company won the rights to the EPL for the next three seasons, and are amongst the few operators that have the rights to ALL premier league matches, including 3pm kickoffs. Previous rights holders were Showtime / Orbit.

ADMC is transmitting the games in HD, and is starting up some new HD channels for this.

These new ADMC HD channels are testing on both BAdr / Arabsat at 26 east and Atlantic Bird at 7 west.

Also located at 7 west are Nilesats, which many can receive in Spain. However the ADMC HD channels showing English Premier League Football will be on Atlantic Bird, which has a weaker signal footprint than the Nilesats

To watch English Premier League Football on ADMC you will need a satellite dish of about 80cm aligned to 26 east, and a ADMC Sport HD receiver. These receivers have a 12 month subscription built in (embedded).

I do not know what will happen after 12 months (and neither does my supplier! - it may be that a new HD receiver will be required, or simply another payment and the serial number of the receiver - personally I think the former, as the reason for embedding is to try and stop cardsharing and piracy of ADMC channels.

Although the channels are in HD, even if your TV does not have HD technology, you can still watch the channels in SD on your normal TV.

PACKAGE DETAILS

The AD Sports package consists of 10 HD channels and is due to be officially released in mid-July.

The channels are.....AD HD Sports 1 - 6, Sky News HD, Fox Movies HD, Fox Series HD, and National Geographic Abu Dhabi HD.
In an attempt to prevent piracy ADMC have teamed up with Humax and are using a Humax HD Receiver with an embedded 12 month subscription.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Sky has confirmed that Sky Sports News HD will launch next month on August 23

On August 23, the high definition channel will become available to Sky+ HD subscribers offering a range of new features, such as a "fresher feel" in widescreen, along with sharper graphics and side panel videos to complement the main story.

The launch of Sky Sports News HD is part of a new pay-TV strategy for Sky Sports News, which will involve the removal of the standard definition channel from Freeview to be replaced by an hour timeshift of Sky3.

For the Sky Sports News HD launch, a raft of new programmes has been commissioned, including First, Fast And Now offering a daily roundup of sports news every morning from 10am to 1pm. Ed Chamberlin will further host a new live afternoon show on Sundays to keep viewers up to date with all the live sport available.

The news broadcaster has also hired more reporters, presenters and production staff to provide deeper coverage of the big stories in sport.

"At Sky Sports News we continue to push boundaries and innovate with both the journalism we offer and the quality of on-screen presentation," said Sky Sports News executive editor Andy Cairns.

The launch of Sky Sports News HD is part of Sky's strategy to offer new and existing subscribers additional premium sports content in the face of competition from BT, which has started offering Sky Sports 1 and 2 in time for the 2010/11 English Premier League season.

Freesat is looking to take advantage of Ofcom’s Wholesale Must Offer rules, offering a pay-TV package, even though many of its set-top boxes don’t feature the necessary conditional access smart card slot.

Managing director Emma Scott told The Guardian that the option of offering subscribers the ability to sign up for Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 was currently being discussed at board level. However, no final decision has been made, and there are concerns that any pay offer might run counter to the Freesat brand

In order to offer pay-TV services, however, Freesat would require the approval of the BBC Trust, and the move would also run counter to its brand name.

Freesat, launched by the BBC and ITV as a joint venture in May 2008, has built a customer base of 1.25 million, ahead of expectations, and is projected to reach 2 million by the end of switchover in 2012. It offers more than 150 channels, high definition and access to the BBC iPlayer.

More than half its customers are former Sky homes, followed by Freeview homes upgrading, with the majority opting for high-definition boxes.

"There is a real gap in the market for people who love and want free television," Scott said.

The British TV market is currently delicately poised, with half consisting of free-to-air homes and half of pay-TV subscribers, principally through BSkyB and Virgin Media. Freesat is financed by a £10.7m annual budget, which comes from shareholders and revenue.

TVE and Teledeporte do NOT have the Spanish TV rights for English Premiership football for the next few seasons. Canal+Futbol and GOLTV will be sharing the games, and you can expect about 5 live games each weekend, including those above and at elast one 3pm kickoff on Saturdays.

Other pay satellite TV packages are also available, like Sky Italia, Sky Germany, Nova, and ADMC (taken over from Showtime on Nilesat). At the moment it is thought that only ADMC have the rights to ALL games, although the others will have about the same as Canal+ and GOL TV, ie five live matches a weekend.

Friday, July 16, 2010

BSkyB has struck back at BT's attempt to lure sports fans to its TV service at heavily discounted prices, recruiting Eric Cantona for one of its biggest advertising campaigns of the year.

The "no compromise" campaign, which starts with TV advertising breaking today, features Cantona appearing to walk right through famous moments in sport such as Liverpool's comeback to win the Champions League final against AC Milan in 2005.

"Anything can happen in sport," says Cantona at the end of the TV ad. "The only certainty is you'll get all of Sky Sports on Sky."

As rivals including BT and Virgin Media aim to break Sky's stranglehold on football subscribers, following Ofcom's order in March that the latter had to drop the wholesale rate it sells Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals, the satellite broadcaster is aiming to position its overall sports offering as the best in the market.

"You'll only get all of Sky Sports with Sky," runs a voiceover, which ends by pointing out that Sky offers four sports channels as well as Sky Sports News, which is becoming a premium subscription channel like the other Sky Sports services.

BSkyB's campaign comes weeks after BT launched a major TV and print campaign featuring footballers including Michael Owen and the actor Kris Marshall, who stars in the regular "BT Family" ads, offering Sky Sports 1 and 2 at a steep discount.

Sky's TV campaign, which will run across the channels including ITV1 and Channel 4, will be supported by a large-scale campaign of press, billboard and digital advertising from 19 July.

Four billboards attempt to drive home Sky's superiority over rivals with big pictures of Cantona and lines including "The unmissable should be just that", "Compromise is not an option" and "What's the point of greatness if you cannot watch it?"

"[Fans] don't want to miss a moment of the sports they love, which is why we believe customers will respond to the authenticity of Sky Sports, a brand which has won the trust of sports fans following over two decades of ground-breaking coverage," said David Murdin, Sky's director of marketing for sport and news.

Bay Radio, an English language radio station for the Costa Blanca, will no longer broadcast SunTalk with John Gaunt.

The Sun has decided to scrap its Jon Gaunt-fronted internet radio station SunTalk after just over a year in operation.

The station, which described itself as "the home of free speech" when it launched in April last year, aired every weekday for three hours. SunTalk was also broadcast on FM to the expatriate community in parts of Spain.

However, yesterday's show was the station's final transmission. A message on the SunTalk homepage said: "SunTalk is no longer live. Thank you for listening over the last 18 months. Please continue to enjoy our podcasts."

News International had been considering expanding the station with a launch nationwide on the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) platform, but is thought to have been put off by the cost, reports The Guardian.

A News International spokesman said: "News International can confirm that SunTalk has closed. This was a business decision taken as part of an ongoing review of costs and strategy to focus on core operations."

Popular questions asked on search engine sites for Sky TV in Spain and Enligh Television on Costa Blanca

"english tv satellite frequencies for the costa blanca"

The satellite frequencies used by Sky and Freesat in Spain are exactly the same frequencies used for reception of Sky and Freesat in the UK. The signals are transmitted from the same 4 satellites, Astra 2a, Astra 2b, Astra 2d and Eurobird 1.

Sky UK satellites are located at 28.2 to 28.5 degrees east of south. The signals are transmitted from the same 4 satellites, Astra 2a, Astra 2b, Astra 2d and Eurobird 1.

Sky Italia is located on the Hotbird satellite located at 13 degrees east of south.

Sky Deutschland (Germany) is located on the Astra 1 satellites located at 19 degrees east of south.

"abu dhabi sports channel premier league"

The FA Premier League retendered the broadcast rights for the English Premier League for the 2010-20011 season and the following two seasons.
Showtime Orbit, on Nilesat 7 west, lost these rights for the Abu Dhabi Media Company.
ADMC have, as of today, not release many details, apart from all games will be shown, and with English commentary.
Subscription prices and receiver prices details are sketchy.
There has been no indication as to which satellites they will be using or the frequencies they will be using or if those signals can be received in Spain.

3pm kickoffs for the English Premier League are not allowed to be show on UK TV channels, at a risk of a fall in attendances.
However, some non UK satellite broadcasters are able to show 3pm football games, many with English commentary.
For example Setanta Ireland, Digital+ (D+ - Spain), Sky Italia, Sky Germany, Canal Digital (France)

"can i add channels on a sky freeview card"

Freeview is a different system to sky.
Freeview is a terrestrial TV system only available in the UK.
A ”freesatfromsky” card allows access to the "free to view" channels on sky.

New broadcaster Electric Sofa has confirmed plans to launch three new entertainment and movies channels on Sky in the autumn.

The company intends to launch a film channel devoted to showcasing British-funded or produced movies, along with "rarely-seen gems".

It will also launch a general movies channel screening blockbusters, premieres and classic titles aimed at the 16 to 34-year-old audience.

The third channel will broadcast a range of general entertainment programmes, including in-house content and acquisitions.

All three channels will be made available free-to-air on Sky on November 1, with Electric Sofa already talking to advertisers and sponsors.

The firm also said that the channels will be coming to "other platforms and online", but it did not provide any specific information on that.

Electric Sofa is co-managed by Andrew Burns, who was previously chief operating officer at Film24, the movies broadcaster which recently went into liquidation.

Burns said that Electric Sofa has "ambitious growth plans" for its channels, which will involve carrying the "very best in films and entertainment".

"Conversations with investors and content providers are well advanced and we have already recruited several industry experts who are specialists in their field to support and advise the management team," he said.

"With these new programmes and archive classics, we aim to make Electric Sofa the new destination for viewers in the UK and Ireland."

Ursula Adeane, Electric Sofa's other managing director, who is a former senior executive at Canis Media, added: "We are actively identifying and acquiring new material to ensure that Electric Sofa will be the viewer's favourite place to go for original, fresh films and entertainment.

"We are building a strong and talented team for this exciting venture, as well as exploring strategic partnerships to enhance and grow the brand."

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

TVE Internacional is among several channels that will cease broadcasting on June 30 on ASTRA 19.2 ° East

A bouquet of eight free-to-air channels on the Astra position at 19.2 degrees East is set to cease transmissions by the end of June 2010, according to a scroll bar currently showing on these channels.
The multiplex consists of TVE International, RAI Uno, M2 Monde, TRT International, TV 7 Tunis, RTP International, Canal Algerie and Al Masriya and is part of the CanalSat offer. No official reason is given for the end of the service, but insiders believe the Canal group needs the capacity to expand its HD offer for French viewers.

Most of these channels are also available free-to-air on other satellite positions.

UK cable operator Virgin Media has completed the sale of Virgin Media Television to BSkyB following regulatory approval. VMtv has been renamed the Living TV Group.

Sky has acquired Living, Livingit, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot, Bravo, Bravo 2 and Virgin1 and their related websites. Sky will not license the Virgin brand and will announce the new channel brand for Virgin1 in due course.

In completing the acquisition, Sky has paid Virgin Media an initial £105 million. Up to an additional £55 million will be paid on UK regulatory approval.

This will / could mean channels like Living HD, that have many popular USA shows, will be appearing on the Sky satellite platform very soon. The first week in August has been mentioned a few times.

There is no indication that Film 4 HD, currently only available via Virgin cable TV in the UK, will be available on satellite in the near future.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sky Italia, the Italian satellite platform, has recenly started to test new encryption coding provided by NDS.

NDS4 is expected to help stop cardsharing of the Sky Italia viewing cads.

Cardsharing and cardsharing networks are becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon, and pay TV comp[anies are always tryting to stop these networks, that allow one viewing card to be shared with other users via the internet.

Sky Italia is available in Italy from satellite position 13 East Hotbird.

If successful expect the NDS4 to be implimented across other Sky services, including Sky UK and Sky Germany.

However, for the moment, no one knows when it will implement the new encryption system

The RTL-owned channel had previously shunned the offer of capacity on the UK terrestrial platform Freeview HD. Five, the last of the UK legacy broadcasters to launch a high definition channel, will broadcast a simulcast of its main channel featuring a mix of US drama and UK-originated series.

Charles Constable, Five’s Director of Strategy, said: “We broadcast so many high quality series shot in HD, such as Don’t Stop Believing and our line-up of great US dramas, so our schedule is really suited to fantastic picture quality. Five HD is a great addition to our channel portfolio.”

Five will be showing some moves in HD during July, not many are actually in HD but will be upscaled.
July:

Now that the Pace Sky HD boxes are no longer available and the Amstrad Sky HD boxes are having more and more complaints about them, the new Samsung Sky HD digibox is the best Sky HD box for the Costa Blanca and Spain.

The Samsung Sky HD digibox has a digital satellite tuner that performs much better with the weaker signals, and is in testing much better than the infamous Pace 2600 sky box.

In my tests the Samsung Sky HD digibox held BBC2 for over 30minutes more than my Pace 2600 in a side by side test.
And it held the tricky to get North beam signals like the 2600 does, and which many of the news basic Sky boxes, like the Amstrads DRX500 has difficulty with.

The 500gig hard disk drive allows 250gb for personal storage - that is about 120 hours of recording TV!

With a Sky subscription, you can watch one channels and record another at the same time, using the Sky HD boxes twin satellite tuners (you will need two cables from the LNB to the Samsung Sky HD digibox for this to work!)

You can watch BBC HD, ITVHD with no sky card or monthly subscription.
You can watch C4Hd and soon Five HD with a freesatfromskycard with no monthly subscription.
You can watch over 40 HD channels from Sky, with their subscription packages.

(note that the hard drive recording features require a monthly payment to Sky).

Monday, July 12, 2010

The BBC has confirmed plans to show The Open Championship in high definition for the first time.

For the 150th anniversary of The Open, the BBC will broadcast 40 hours of live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC HD, starting on July 15 at 9am. There will also be 40 hours of content available via the Red Button.

The BBC's coverage team will once more be led by Hazel Irvine, with expert analysis coming from Peter Alliss, Ken Brown, Sam Torrance, Mark James, Wayne Grady and Andrew Cotter.

For 2010, French golfer Jean Van de Velde will join the on-course team of Maureen Madill and Philip Parkin, with reports coming from Dan Walker, Shane O'Donaghue and Russell Fuller.

Before the action gets underway, BBC Two will air a one-hour highlights programme from The Open's anniversary special event, The Open Champions Challenge, on July 15 from 7pm.

The challenge, which features past Open winners such as Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods, will also be made available via the Red Button between 3.30pm and 6pm.

BBC Sport Online will carry live streaming of the network feed (for UK users only), along with highlights, live leaderboards and video clips. All coverage will also be made available on BBC iPlayer after transmission.

BBC Radio 5 Live will broadcast extensive coverage from The Open, with John Inverdale presenting live from the event every day.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sky Sports will screen the NatWest Series opener between England and Bangladesh in 3D, enabling viewers in the UK and Ireland to watch cricket in the format for the first time.

Coverage is being broadcast live on Sky 3D to over 1,000 venues in the UK and Ireland, providing a unique perspective of the match.

Paul King, Sky Sports Executive Cricket Producer, said: "This is a revolution in cricket broadcasting creating a view of the action never seen before. I'm sure our viewers will be stunned by the results."

England pace bowler Jimmy Anderson, who has already had a chance to look at the new technology, said: "I've seen Sky 3D and it's a phenomenal viewing experience. I can't wait to see what I and the rest of the lads look like in 3D!"

Cricket is receiving the 3D treatment by Sky Sports, following in the footsteps of football and rugby union, after the launch of Sky 3D - Europe's first dedicated 3D TV channel in April.

Later in the year, Sky 3D will launch to people's living rooms offering a range of must-see movies, sport, documentaries, entertainment and arts content.

Sky started testing 3D technology two years ago and created history on January 31 2010 with the world's first live sports 3D TV broadcast - Arsenal v Manchester United.

This was followed by the Guinness Premiership Final in 3D in May and then three major sporting finals across two sports - all in 3D - on 22 May 2010.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Five HD reception on the Costa Blanca and Spain should be OK - Five HD frequency is 12266 - Astra 2 south beam.

Programme information on the Five HD placeholder on Sky channel 171 now says "Programme no longer available" - an indicaation Five HD will be starting on Tuesday.

Update

Following quoted from Five.tv press FAQ section:

"Five will be launching its own High Definition channel on Sky+ HD on Tuesday 13th July 2010. The channel will be called Five HD and will be on channel number 171. It will be a simulcast of the current standard definition service and will broadcast HD versions of our most popular acquired American dramas as well as our Australian soaps Neighbours and Home And Away. A wider variety of our commissioned programmes are being produced in High Definition and we expect these to become available on the channel in future.

In order to receive Five HD viewers will require a Sky+ HD box, a Sky viewing card and a television set that is HD compatible. There will be no additional subscription charge for the channel.

Although Freeview is launching a High Definition service in the near future, Five HD will not initially be available on this platform. However, we are exploring options to launch Five HD on Freeview at some future date and are also considering other digital television platforms."

Saturday, July 3, 2010

The first three stages pass through the Netherlands and Belgium on routes designed to replicate some features of the spring classics, including seven cobblestone sectors totalling 13.2 km, the longest distance of cobblestones in the Tour since 1983, on stage 3.

There are six mountain stages, three of them with mountain finishes, and in the 100th anniversary year of their first inclusion on the tour, the emphasis is on the Pyrenees, with two ascents of the Col du Tourmalet. There is just one long time trial, which is restored to its traditional place on the penultimate day.

The UK has a strong chance of winning both the individual and team titles with Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky.

And "the fastest man on a bike" Mark Cavendish is tipped for the green sprinters jersey.

You get to see a lot of nice french towns, chatauxs, and villages but the action is best when they get to the mountain stages - next weekend for the Alps and the following weekend for the Pyrenese stages.

Otherwise, the flat stages and time trials are not good for the spectator, apart from the views.

And unless it is wet.

Hope there are no contraversies this year - I am sure they will be the usual drug claims and cheats - should they not have learnt by now.

(saying that a Spanish rider has been dropped by his team, as he has used a product that contained traces of "banned substances". Given all the dope testing they do on cyclists, I am sure that if they tested it even the bread in mercadona would contain traces of "banned substances!")

UK TV Coverage of the Tour De France

Its on Eurosport and TVE2 / teledeportes and ITV4.

British Eurosport is on Sky Channel 410
British Eurosport 2 is on Sky channel 411
Eurosport HD is on Sky channel 412
ITV4 is on Sky channel 120
ITV4 is on Freesat 117
La 2 and Teledeports channels are on TDT - Spanish "Freeview"

I prefer the Eurosport commentary, as Phil and Paul on ITV are sometime too serious. ES usually have past winner Stephen Roache - and are a bit more relaxed in their commentary - well they have to fill 6 hours of TV time - and do read out text and emails - I have had one read out!!!

The in September La Vuelta Espana starts. There are a few stages in my area - around Calpe and Moraira areas. Saw them in the area last year - its amazing the sppeds that they can go up hills, that even my ickle "Skippy" the Renault Kangoo struggles (mind the riders dont have a 2m dish on their back!). Its also amzaing the noise that 150 bikes make when they zip past you at 40kms!

For more information on British TV for the Costa Blanca Spain please visit:

No satellite TV installer in Spain can get Freeview reception in Spain - dispite what some of the "cowboy" say.

"Freeview" is the brand name of a UK Digital Terrestrial TV service.

It is transmitted from TV transmitters in the UK - ie terrestrial transmitters - such as Emly Moor, Sutton Colefield and Crystal Palace.

The nearest Freeview transmitter to Spain is in Cornwall.

Freeview is not transmitted on a powerful enough transmitter for Freeview to be received in Spain. If it was then the UK would only need one transmitter mast!

Using a Freeview digibox in Spain will NOT allow you to watch the UK TV channels. A UK Freeview box in Spain will only be able to receive the Spanish TV channels like TVE, Sexta and Cuarto, as these Spanish TV channels are the only chanels transmitted terrestrially in Spain.

I suppose that is is also similar as to why TVE is not available on Freeview in the UK!

However, many channels available on Freeview are also available on satellite - for free. These channels include: BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, Channel 4, Five.

There are also channels that are available for free on the Freeview system that you have to pay for, via a Sky TV subscription and viewing card, on satellite - like Dave, UK History.

You cannot use a Freeview receiver / digibox to receive Freesat TV or Sky TV. Freeview receivers are not compatiable with satellite signals and as such, Freesat TV and Sky TV receivers are not compatiable with Freeview terrestrial siganls (although there may be some combined Freesat Freeview receivers available.)

In Spain, you do have a digital terrestrial TV service, called Television Digital Terrstrial - TDT.

It delivers up to 30 digital TV channels. These are Spanish TV channels. There are no UK TV channels available on TDT. However, you can, in many cases, changed the imported American and UK programmes from their dubbed Spanish audio soundtrack into their original English lanaguage audio soundtrack.

Which broadcaster has the English Premier League International broadcasting rights for TV in Spain?

For Sky UK subscribers, Sky have also gained the return of the Monday Night Football. Only the saturday 530 kickoff will be omn ESPN.

In Spain, only D+ and GOLTV have the combined Premier League rights. EPL will no longer be shown on TVE 2 or Teledeporte.

Some other countries.

France - Canalsat
Number of games shown not yet known, based on current deal all Sky/ESPN games and 1 3PM game on Canal+ Sport and one on TPS Star.
French commentary only

Poland - Cyfra+
Number of games shown not yet known, based on current deal all Sky/ESPN games and 1 3PM game.
Polish commentary only

Spain - Digital+ / Gol TV Shared
Unknown number of games or how rights will be distributed between Digital+ and GOL TV
GOL TV not available on satellite
Digital+ show FA Cup with English commentary so should be the same for EPL.

Germany - Sky Deutschland
Up to 5 games per week, probably the same as this season.
Has English commentary.

Italy - Sky Italia
Probably the same as this season.
Has English commentary.

Holland - Sport1
Probably the same as this season, only 0 or 1 3pm game shown on satellite, all are on cable.
No English commentary.

Details not confirmed

Middle East - Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC)

Confirmed to have the rights for all 380 plus english football premier league matches. They will be available on ADMC channel on the Nilesat and Badr satellites located at 7west and 26 east respectivly.
According to their website, _www.admcsport.com/en, receivers with a built in 12 months subscription will be available, as will a seperate viewing card for others who wish to use their own Humax HD receiver.
English and Arabic commentary confirmed

Scandinavia - Medge Consulting

Rights in Norway sold to TV2 Sport
For Sweden, Finland and Denmark Canal+ has teamed up with TV4 to try and win the rights.

Danish broadcaster TV2 Sport is set to launch two new channels to air English Premier League soccer after it acquired the rights to the games last month.

For Greece, Nova is confirmed for the next three seasons starting 2010-11.

Modern Times Group, the international entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that it has extended its exclusive broadcasting rights to England’s Barclays Premier League in Bulgaria until the end of the 2012-2013 season.

The price of Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 is due to increase by £3 per month from September 2010. Sky are saying that this is due to the increase in the amount of Premier LEgaue games that hey are covering for the next three years, with the return of Monday Night Football on the satellite broadcaster.

The cost of watching Premiership football matches is set to plunge for sports fans willing to sign up with BT, but will rise for customers of Sky after the satellite broadcaster tried to wrongfoot its rival today by increasing its prices. The move means BT is likely to make a loss on providing sports coverage.

Tomorrow BT will announce the prices it will charge customers of its broadband TV service BT Vision for Sky's main sports channels. The head of its retail business, Gavin Patterson, previously pledged that it would offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 – plus rival ESPN – for under £20 a month, well below the £26 a month which satellite users must fork out.

BT's new prices are based on a deal struck with regulator Ofcom back in March, which ended years of wrangling between the company, Sky and Virgin Media and introduced reduced wholesale prices for Sky Sports 1 and 2. Ofcom demanded that Sky drop its prices by more than 20%. But it also linked the wholesale price it must charge its rivals for Sky Sports 1 and 2 with the price the broadcaster charges its own customers. Sky's rivals assumed that was designed to protect the satellite company from being undercut by other broadcasters. But in a dramatic move Sky revealed that it would actually increase its retail prices, which means its wholesale prices will increase accordingly.

BT was taken utterly unawares and the move is likely to mean that it will lose money on every customer it signs up to sports packages on BT Vision. BT said: "We are proceeding as planned and will deal with the issue of Sky's wholesale pricing in due course. It's surprising that Sky are raising prices for their customers just when we're about to enter the market. This will only make our prices more attractive and so could drive customers to our door," he added.

Rival Virgin Media is understood to be unaffected, as it has already signed a separate deal with Sky.

Sky is increasing the retail price of Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 by £3. Under the complicated wholesale pricing mechanism set out in Ofcom's ruling, this means that the wholesale price of Sky Sports 1 increases from £10.63 a month to £13.42, Sky Sports 2 rises from £10.63 to £13.34 and both channels together rise from £17.14 to £19.07 per month.

For Sky's retail customers, meanwhile, it means that from 1 September the cost of a basic subscription plus Sky Sports 1 or 2 will increase from £26 a month to £29 a month. The cost of a basic subscription plus all its sports channels will increase from £35 to £38 and the cost of all its sports plus its six entertainment bundles will rise from £41 to £44 per month. The cost of its top-end package – including movies – will increase from £48.50 to £51.50.

Sky had originally intended to inform customers of the price increase in letters to be sent out from 23 July. But as BT had decided to make such a fuss about its new prices, it is understood to have brought its plans forwards. The reason for the price increase is that Sky will be offering more games come the next Premiership season, which starts in mid-August.

The regulator's review of the UK's pay-TV market dragged on so long that one of the original complainants – Setanta – went bust during the process. The Premiership games it acquired were picked up by ESPN, but under the deal Setanta originally struck it lost one package of matches from next season. Those matches were picked up by Sky and it now has 115 games, compared with the 92 it showed last season. That is roughly five out of every six games to be played next season.

A spokesman for Ofcom said the regulator had always recognised "that retail prices would change in the future".

"That is why we set a fixed margin between Sky's retail prices and wholesale prices," the spokesman said. "This means that if Sky's retail prices change, then its wholesale prices will move by a fixed amount. Our decisions will therefore deliver competition, choice and innovation in the pay TV market, regardless of changes to Sky's retail prices."

The above is taken from The Guardian - _http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/30/sky-raises-prices

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